1 week ago
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The Kia Tasman may be a dual-cab off-road ute, but the company's sales targets for the new model could have significant implications across the board.
The 2025 Kia Tasman could be the most ambitious new vehicle to ever come from the South Korean car maker, with a sales target that may make it the top-selling model in the line-up.
Kia says it is aiming for the Tasman to take approximately 10 per cent of ute sales in Australia, which would equate to between 20,000 and 25,000 sales annually.
Given Kia is on track to sell an estimated 23,000 Sportage SUVs to Australian buyers in 2024, the Tasman ute could be the brand's Number One best-seller – or not far behind the Sportage in second place.
Based on last year's figures, the ambitious sales target would also propel the Tasman to the fourth most-popular ute in the country.
If the Tasman were to take equal bites out of the Ranger and HiLux, it could single-handedly unseat the Ford from the top sales position, making it a tight race against the current 2024 Number Two best-selling car to date: the Toyota RAV4.
The Tasman also has the potential to make Kia the second best-selling brand in Australia, if going by 2023's full-year data.
While Toyota was well ahead in first place with 215,240 vehicles sold nationally, Mazda took out second with 100,008 – and Kia in fourth with 76,120 cars sold.
Ignoring several factors and market changes, simply adding the Tasman's best-case scenario of 25,000 vehicles sold to Kia's 2023 full-year result would see the brand overtake Mazda with more than 101,000 total sales.
What arguably makes this more interesting is sales of the Kia Sportage are – as of October 2024 – up by 44 per cent compared with the same time a year prior, further increasing the brand's overall tally.
However, with the Tasman not due to go on sale until the middle of 2025, any sales ambitions won't be realised until at least mid-2026 – assuming no delays to initial deliveries of the ute.
As previously reported by Drive, Kia is going after traditional ute buyers – both retail and fleet – but admitted its dealers think the Tasman could win over those looking to purchase an off-road SUV, such as a Toyota LandCruiser Prado or Nissan Patrol.
Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.
